It's been ages since I had actual news to post here! I
do hope those of you who care about the Dudes have not needed my encouragement
to keep them in your prayers. Everybody always needs prayer, whether
things are good or bad and whether we know it or not.

But I do have news now, and not good news.
Lisa alerted me
to it, and I've confirmed it with a press release posted on
Monkeeland: Peter has
Adenoid Cystic
Carcinoma, a rare but treatable slow-growing cancer that usually occurs in
the salivary glands. In his case, it's on the base of his tongue.
Radiation should take care of it, and he plans to be back on tour with Shoe
Suede Blues by June. But he still needs our prayers, especially since
there is a risk of recurrence. I'm praying, too, that God will work in
such a mighty way that it will start to draw Peter back to the Truth.

September 2002

Time sure does fly! It's already time for the fourth
annual Pray for the Monkees Day! Seems like only yesterday Shawna and I
were giving thanks that the Dudes, their families, the backup band, and Natural
were all still alive and kicking (if badly shaken from the day before).
This year we do have some losses in the Monkee community to mourn, especially
Virginia Thorkelson, Peter's mom. But there are also reasons to rejoice,
such as Ami's marriage and the birth of Davy's grandson, Harrison Jones
McFadden. (I think we were all hoping it would be a boy for Davy's sake...
and boy, can I picture him spoiling Harrison rotten! ;-) )

There are a couple of interviews floating around that may be
of interest. Back on June 20 Davy gave an interview to Mark Bradley Morrow
on WCTL in Erie, PA, and in the course of the
interview made some comments about his faith and his plans to record a Christian
album with the help of Johnny J. Blair in the near future. I have no idea
if the interview is available online, but Morrow plans to release the interview
on CD if there is enough demand from the fans. Then late last month, I got
word from our very own Terry Paul
Broadhurst that he was able to secure an interview with Peter for
Rock 'n' Souls Radio that contains
comments from Peter about his spiritual life. Because of RL
obligations I haven't been able to check out the interview yet, but I'm sure
it's very enlightening.

Well, that's all the news for now. Join us Thursday
night at 7 p.m. CDT for our annual Prayer Chat, and let's keep those prayers
coming! As Shawna says, God's really working in these men's lives!

Summer 2002

Believe it or not, the fourth annual PFM day is only two and a
half months away! At this point, we don't have anything major planned
beyond our annual prayer chat, but please try to join us if you can.
That's a Thursday night, so hopefully there won't be any conflicts.

I've learned something from Sara
that gives us a whole new angle from which to pray for Micky. For a
long time, all I knew about his stepfather was that he was a minister, and I
assumed that he belonged to some Protestant denomination. However, Sara
showed me Janelle's obituary in the course of a recent, unrelated IM
conversation, and one thing that caught my eye was a statement that Rev. Scott
belonged to the Church of Religious Science. For those of you who don't
know, Religious Science is an offshoot of Christian Science, which is considered
by most apologists to be a cult. (You can visit the Christian
Research Institute for more information, or check out The Kingdom of the
Cults by Dr. Walter Martin.) Now, I have no idea if Micky is also into
Religious Science, but it does explain a lot, both about his interest in
metaphysics and about his friendship with Mike, who is a confirmed Christian
Scientist.

[By the way, please don't confuse Christian Scientists (who
belong to the Church of Christ, Science) with scientists who are
Christians. There's a lot of junk science and faulty logic behind
Christian Science that most true scientists can't stand. I know whereof I
speak; I'm a chemistry major, and reading up on Christian Science gave me a
headache.]

December 2001

Sorry it's been so long since the last update; after 9/11, my thoughts were
busy elsewhere. But here it is, the end of the year, and so I thought I'd
bring you a year-end update... or at least fill you in on things that happened
since the last update.

Shawna, Terry
Paul, and I had been discussing giving the Dudes some sort of award for most
of the year, but finances were a big problem since our budget is $0.
Finally, over the summer I decided the best way to do it would be to give them
each a certificate of appreciation and then make another one, addressed to the
group, into a plaque to put in Davy's museum. Shawna and Terry Paul
agreed, so we got them all made up; I sent Mike and Peter theirs by mail, and I
took the ones for Micky and Davy to the Grand Prairie concert. I wasn't
able to get backstage to see them, but I did finally find the proper channels to
get them delivered, and since I haven't heard that they didn't arrive, I
assume that they did. I also sent letters to Micky and Davy on Sept. 10.

September 11 threw everyone for a loop, but by the end of the day word had
gotten out that the Dudes, their families, the backup band, and Natural were all
accounted for and unhurt, although group members who live in the Village were
pretty badly shaken. Very few people made it to the PFM chat on Sept. 12,
but that's understandable considering the circumstances. As it was, we had
a great prayer time, and we encouraged each other a lot.

Not much else has happened since then, but we've kept praying on our own, and
I hope you have, too. We do, however, have a new prayer request:
Peter's side of the story of his firing has been picked up by the National
Enquirer (with or without his permission--knowing how tabloids are, it may
be unauthorized and totally false), and things could very well get nasty again
depending on everyone's reactions. Scroll down to read my prayer from when the problem first arose. We may never know the
full story, but we can pray that things don't get out of hand and that
reconciliation will be possible. And if it is a pack of lies concocted by
the Enquirer, we can pray that it will be obvious to everyone involved
and that any intended harm will not be caused (and also that justice will be
served).

September 2001

Rose here: Yes, it's only a week and a half until PFM Day... and
from the looks of things, they sure need it this year. For those of you
who haven't heard, Peter resigned from the UK tour, and then Micky and Davy
fired him from the September dates as well. (So much for me getting to
talk to Peter at Grand Prairie.) The few details we have at this time from
MBF have a lot of fans up in arms--especially Nezheads and Torkees who are angry
with Micky and Davy. So here is my prayer for this whole situation, which
I intend to send at least to Peter (which is why certain spots are intentionally
vague):

Oh, Lord, our Father, Creator of heaven and earth, Holy One of Israel, and
Judge of all hearts, You know exactly what's going on here. You know where
each of the Monkees stands in relation to each other and to You. You
alone, O Lord, know exactly what happened and why. And so we humbly ask
You: Will You please fix this mess?

Lord, You know we're all shocked and hurt by what's occurred. And
because we're on the outside looking in, we can't figure it out. We might
have opinions, but we really don't have enough information to go on. And
You're the only One in a position to do what we'd all like to do: get
everything straightened out. So please:

Comfort the hurt feelings on all sides and help everyone to forgive one
another;

Give Peter Your peace, which passes all understanding, and success as he
travels with Shoe Suede Blues and James Lee Stanley;

Grant Micky and Davy success as they continue to tour and traveling
mercies as they head over to England;

Bless Mike in his endeavors with Videoranch;

Help our favorite foursome to resolve their differences, overlook the
faults in the others, and overcome their own;

Help the fans not to forsake the Monkees, and give them the grace to
behave seemingly at concerts rather than being rude or even violent toward
whomever they happen to dislike at the moment;

And grant the much deeper cry of my own heart about this matter, which
only You know.

I praise you for all that You have done and all that You are going to do.
In the precious, holy name of Jesus I ask it,
Amen.

Summer 2001

More evidence of Davy's convictions has recently come to my attention.
(Not that it's really any secret, of course, but I wanted to pass the
information along.) Go to the
Davybabes' page, click the second button on the left (60's Articles), follow
the link to the articles, and find the one titled "My Love
Secret." This was written back in 1967! Thanks to Sara
for submitting it to that site and to Brandi for sending me the link!

I'm hoping to get to talk to the Dudes after the Sept. 8 concert in Grand
Prairie, and if I do, I plan to ask Davy plainly what his beliefs are. I
know a lot of us are wondering, and it would be nice to find out for sure
exactly where he stands. And hopefully I can also come back with specific
prayer requests for our third annual PFM Day on September 12!

Speaking of which, we're just over a month away from PFM Day. It's a
Wednesday night, so if you could bring it up at church or Bible study (even if
you keep it as an unspoken request), we'd greatly appreciate it. I know we
have some powerful prayer warriors on this team, and I know our prayers are
heard. Thanks to everyone who participates. And judging from what's
happened so far, who knows what might happen this
year?

Winter 2000

Folks, it looks like we may have an answer to prayer on another front
looming on the horizon! For those who don't already know, no official
plans have yet been made, but the latest report from Davy Devotees and Monkees
Digest is that the Monkees (minus Mike) are going to be touring in 2001! [Shout
"Glory!" or "Wahoo!" depending on your background!]
Not only does this confirm my observations from
Davy's Fiesta Texas concert (which were further confirmed by other PFM members),
but it also gives us an opportunity to witness to our fellow fans.

I can see the puzzled looks you're giving me about that last statement.
Let me explain. Ever since the '97 tour ended, every serious fan has been
hoping, wishing, pleading, and praying to whatever god they worship (fandom
covers all walks of life, after all) for another reunion. Now it's about
to become a reality. And this is the perfect time for us as Christian fans
to explain to non-Christian fans Who exactly answered our prayers.
It may be harder to get through to fans who are adherents of another
religion. But the fact that Davy's change of heart about Monkeeness
coincides with his turn back to Christianity (I still haven't heard for sure if
he's actually dedicated or rededicated his life to Christ, but he's getting
close if he hasn't yet) might be the very tool needed to convince someone.
So pray for opportunities to witness to non-Christian fans, and also continue
praying for the Dudes. If we can pray through enough to get even one of
them to publicly admit to being a Christian, our witnessing efforts to others
will receive a tremendous boost.

I've already put up several suggestions of things to pray for the guys, both
here and on the new archive page (I didn't feel that I could take the info about
the concert down yet). Now I'd like to add another. As I mentioned
in "A Brief Explanation," it is often
difficult for rich people to see their need for God. In explaining the
parable of the sower in Mark 4, Jesus said, "Still others,
like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the
worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other
things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful" (Mark
4:18-19 NIV). While we need to watch out that we don't let ourselves
become unfruitful by letting the things mentioned in those verses take over out
own lives, I think we
should also pray that God would break through the thorns that might be keeping
the Monkees from serving Him.

Thanks to all of you who prayed on Sept. 12. God alone knows exactly
what effect our prayers had, but I feel certain that we were heard.

Hup two three four, keep it up, two three four....

Summer 2000

Well, I have some news. Our prayers appear to be working, at
least on Davy! I went to his concert in San Antonio, and although
I didn't get to speak with him personally, here's what I gathered from
his performance.

He seems to be much happier and less bitter than he has been lately,
especially when it comes to anything to do with the Monkees.

He grew up in church, and his family was apparently very active in the
church. Davy said that part of the musical influence in his early
years came from his mother playing the piano in church and his sisters
singing in church, being active in youth group, and participating in church
dramas.

He made some very conservative pro-family statements during the concert,
including something to the effect of, "The family isn't dead in
America."

Some of his other statements sounded either Christian or nearly Christian,
and I got the impression from that and his overall demeanor that the Lord is
working with him. Whether or not he is actually a Christian yet I
don't know, but whatever resistance he might have to the Gospel is at least
wearing down.

Rev. Brown has heard reports of Davy singing something like "Send the
Devil Out of Town" at some of his concerts. He didn't at this one for
whatever reason. But that plus the things I've outlined above seem to give
evidence to the effectiveness of our prayers.

Shawna and I traded emails a few
weeks ago comparing this campaign to the march around Jericho. We may not
see huge results for a while, and we may actually meet with resistance and even
ridicule. But our prayers are having an impact, and if we continue
faithfully praying, God will reward our efforts with success.

Don't forget that Pray for the Monkees Day, September 12, is only two months
away. Please spread the word as much as you can. If our
concerted efforts plus God's hand have accomplished this much in only one year,
just think what our prayers can do if we redouble them!

A few pointers on things to pray, in addition to the suggested prayers on the
main PFM page: We can ask that God would place something or someone in each
Monkee's life to turn their hearts toward him. In Davy's case, that might
mean something to remind him of his upbringing in church and (hopefully) the
good teaching he received during those years. As I've mentioned before,
one possibility could be that something would turn up in the old Lutheran church
in Pennsylvania that he's turning into a museum. And there are also Rev.
Brown's suggestions for all four:

"Binding the strong man off of their lives.

"Praying the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into the field to
witness.

"Claiming Isaiah--that God's word will not return to him void but
accomplish this salvation in these men's lives."